FAQ on PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan)
People have a lot of questions about the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana or PM Kisan Yojana launched for farmers. There are some of these questions and their answers, which you can get answers to by reading these questions.
1. What is Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi?
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is a new Central Sector Scheme to provide income support to all landholding farmers’ families in the country to supplement their financial needs for procuring various inputs related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs. Under the Scheme, the entire financial liability towards transfer of benefit to targetd beneficiaries will be borne by Government of India.
2. Whether the benefits of the scheme are admissible to only Small & Marginal Farmers’ (SMF) families?
No, In the beginning when the PM-KISAN Scheme was launched on 24th February, 2019, its benefits were admissible only to Small & Marginal Farmers’ (SMF) families, with combined landholding upto 2 hectare. The Scheme was later on revised w.e.f. 1.6.2019 and extended to all farmer families irrespective of the size of their landholdings.
3. What are the benefits of the Scheme?
Under the PM-KISAN scheme, all landholding farmers’ families shall be provided the financial benefit of Rs.6000/- per annum per family payable in three equal installments of Rs.2000/- each, every four months.
4. When was the scheme launched?
The PM-Kisan Scheme was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 24th February 2019.
5. From which date the Scheme has come into effect?
The Scheme takes effect from 01.12.2018.
6. Who are eligible to get benefits under the Scheme?
All landholding farmers families, which have cultivable landholding in their names are eligible to get benefit under the scheme.
7. Who are not eligible to get benefits under the Scheme? (What are the Exclusion Criteria under the Scheme?)
The following category of farmers are not eligible to get the benefits of the PM-Kisan Scheme:
(a) All Institutional Land holders: and
(b) Farmer families in which one or more of its members belong to following categories: –
- Former and present holders of constitutional posts
- Former and present Ministers/State Ministers and former/present Members of Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha/State Legislative Assemblies/State Legislative Councils, former and present Mayors of Municipal Corporations, former and present Chairpersons of District Panchayats.
- All serving or retired officers and employees of Central / State Government Ministtries / Offices/Departments and its field units Central or State PSEs and Attached offices / Autonomous Institutions under Government as well as regular employees of the Local Bodies (Excluding Multi Tasking Staff/Class-IV/Group-D employees)
- All superannuated / retired pensioners whose monthly pension is Rs.10,000/- or more (Excluding Multi Tasking Staff / Class-IV/Group-D employees)
- All Pensions who paid Income Tax in last assessment year
- Professionals like Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Chartered Accountants, and Architects registered with Professional bodies and carrying out profession by undertaking practices.
8. How many times the benefit will be given in a year?
Under the PM-Kisan scheme, all landholding farmers’ families shall be provided the financial benefit of Rs.6000/- per annum per family payable in three equal installments of Rs.2000/- each, every four months. The period of 1st installment under the scheme is from 01.12.2018 to 31.03.2019, that of 2nd installment from 01.04.2019 to 31.07.2019, 3rd installment from 01.08.2019 to 30.11.2019 and so on.
9. Whether an employee of the Central/State Government / PSU / Autonomous Organization, etc., who holds cultivable land in his/her own name in villages, is eligible to get the benefit under the scheme?
No. All serving or retired officers and employees of Central / State Government Ministries / Offices / Departments and their field units, Central or State PSEs and Attached offices / Autonomous Institutions under Government as well as regular employees of the Local Bodies are not eligible to get benefit under the scheme. However serving or retired Multi Tasking Staff (MTS) / Class-lV / Group-D employees are eligible to get benefit under the Scheme, provided their families are otherwise eligible and not covered under othe exclusion criteria.
10. Will any individual or farmer family owning more than 2 hectare of cultivable land get any benefit under the scheme?
Yes, ambit of the scheme has been extended to cover all farmer families, irrespective of the size of their land holdings.
11. What will happen if the beneficiary gives incorrect declaration for the implementation of the Scheme?
In case of incorrect declaration, the beneficiary shall be liable for recovery of transferred financial benefit and other penal actions as per law.
12. What is the cutoff date for determination of eligibility of beneficiaries under the Scheme?
The cutoff date for determination of eligible of beneficiaries under the scheme is 01.02.2019 and no changes thereafter shall be considered for eligibility of benefit under the scheme for next 5 years, except transfer of land on succession in case of death of landholder.
13. Whether the scheme benefits will be allowed in cases where transfer of ownership of cultivable land takes place after the cut-off date of 01.02.2019 on account of succession due to death of the landowner?
Yes, The Scheme benefits will be allowed in all such cases where transfer of ownership of cultivable land has taken place after the cut-off date of 01.02.2019 on account of succession due to death of the landowner.
14. Whether transfer of ownership occurred between 01.12.2018 and 31.01.2019 are eligible for consideration?
In cases where transfer of ownership of cultivable land has happened between 01.12.2018 and 31.01.2019 due to any reasons such as purchase, succession, will gift, etc, the first installment during the financial year (2018-19) shall be of proportionate amount from date of transfer till 31.03.2019 with respect to the 4 months period, provided the families are otherwise eligible as per scheme guidelines.
15. In an income tax payee farmer or his / her spouse eligible to get benefit under the scheme?
No, if any member of the family is income tax payee in last assessment year, then the family is not eligible for benefit under the scheme.
16. What is the definition of “family” under the Scheme?
A landholder farmer’s family is defined as “a family comprising of husband, wife a minor children who own cultivable land as per the land records of the concern State/UTs”. The existing land-ownership system will be used for identification beneficiaries for calculation of benefit.
17. Is any person/farmer who is not having land holding in his/her own name, but is cultivating land owned by his / her father / forefathers is eligible to get benefit under the scheme?
No, The land must be in his / her own name. If the land ownership has been transferred in his / her name on account of succession then he / she will be eligible.
18. Is any person / farmer who is cultivating a land but is not having the land holding in his / her own name, for example tenant farmers, is eligible to get benefit under the Scheme?
No. Land holding is the sole criteria to avail the benefit under the Scheme.
19. How the beneficiaries under the Scheme will be identified and shortlisted for payment of intended benefit?
The responsibility of identifying the eligible farmers’ families for benefit under the scheme is entirely of the State/UT Governments. The prevailing land-ownership system / record of land in different States/Union Territories will be used to identify the intended beneficiaries for transfer of scheme benefits.
20. What is the mandatory information required to be submitted on PM-KISAN portal for the transfer of benefits?
The following information / documents are requlred to be furnished by the farmers for enrollment under PM-Kisan Scheme:
(i) Name, Age, Gender and Category (SC/ST)
(ii) Aadhaar Number except in case of farmers in the States of Assam, Meghalaya and J&K (now UTs of J&K and Laddakh), where Aadhaar number has not been issued to most of the citizens, and therefore these States have been exempted from the requirement till 31’t N/arch, 2020. ln these States / UTs, Aadhaar number shall be collected for those beneficiaries where it is available and for others alternate prescribed documents can be collected for identity verification purposes by the States/UT Governments, like Aadhaar Enrollment Number and / or any other prescribed documents for purposes of the identification such as Driving Licence, Voters ID Card, NREGA Job Card, or any other identification documents issued by Central/State/UT Governments or their authorities, etc.)
(iii) Bank Account Number and IFSC Code.
(iv) Mobile number – though it is not mandatory but it is advised that when available it may be provided so that the information related to transfer of benefit can be communicated.
21. How does a landholder farmers’family know that his / her name is included in the list of beneficiaries?
The beneficiary lists would be displayed at Panchayats to ensure greater transparency and information. Further, States/UTs would notify the sanction of benefit to the beneficiary through system generated SlVlS. He / she can also ascertain his status through the Farmers Corner in the PM-Kisan portal.
22. What is the remedy available for eligible beneficiary if his/her name is not included in the list of beneficiaries?
All such farmer families whose names are not included in the list of beneficiaries can approach the District Level Grievance Redressal Monitoring Committee in their Districts for inclusion of their names in the beneficiary list. Further, the Government has created an exclusive Farmers’ Corner in the PM-KISAN web-portal www.pmkisan.gov.in giving the following facilities to the farmers through three separate options / links:-
(i) New Farmer’s Registration – Through this link, the farmers can submit their details online. The online Form has certain mandatory fields as well self-declaration regarding the eligibility. Once the Form is filled in and submitted successfully by the farmer, the same is forwarded by an automated process to the State Nodal Officer (SNO) for verification. The SNO verifies the details filled in by the farmer and uploads the verified data on the PM-KISAN portal. Thereafter the data is processed through an established system for payment.
(ii) Edit Aadhaar details – Through this link the farmer can edit his/ her name himself/ herself as per details in the Aadhaar Card. The edited name then gets updated after authentication through the system.
(iii) Beneficiary Status – Through this link, by quoting their Aadhaar Number or Bank Account Number or the registered Mobile Number, the beneficiaries can themselves ascertain the status of payment of their installments.
23. ln case of landholding owned by family members are spread across different revenue records in the same or different villages, districts States how the benefit will be transferred to the family?
ln such cases, the farmer’s family will entitled to get the benefit at one place only. The State Nodal Officers (SNOs) will ensure that no duplicate payments are released to any family.
24. lf there are multiple farmers’ families whose names are recorded on a single landholding whether each farmer’s family is eligible to get benefit of the scheme? lf so, what is the quantum of minimum financial benefit that such families will get under the scheme?
Each of such farmer family would be separately eligible for the benefit under the scheme upto the extent of Rs. 60001 provided they are otherwise eligible as per scheme guidelines.
25. Will be monetary benefit under the Scheme be directly credited into beneficiary accounts?
Yes. The financial benefit under the scheme shall be directly credited into bank accounts of beneficiaries.
26. Whether it is compulsory for beneficiaries to give their bank account details?
Yes, the beneficiaries are required to provide their bank account details along with their Aadhaar number so as to credit the financial benefit under the scheme directly into their bank accounts. No benefit can be given if bank account details have not been provided.
27. Whether giving Aadhaar details is mandatory for availing benefit under the Scheme?
Aadhaar number was optional and not mandatory for release of 1st installment pertaining to the period 01 .12.2018 to 31.03.2019, whereas only possession of Aadhaar number was made mandatory for release of 2nd installment pertaining to the period 01 .04.2019 to 31 .07.2019. Further, Aadhaar seeding of beneficiaries’ data was made mandatory for release of 3’o installment pertaining to the period 01.08.2019, and for subsequent installments onwards. Recently, however, Government has relaxed the mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeding of beneficiaries’ data upto 30.1 1.20’19. This mandatory requirement of Aadhaar seeding of the beneficiaries’ data would continue to applicable for release of all installments w.e.f . O1 .12.2019. However, Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu & Kashmir, where Aadhaar penetration has not been much, have been given exemption from this mandatory requirement till 31.03.2020.
28. Can States/UTs rovide certified lists of beneficiaries on the PM KISAN Portal in phases or in batches as and when they are finalized?
Yes, States/UTs can provide list of eligible beneficiaries as and when they are finalized based on the eligibility criteria in batches/ph rases. The benefits will be released on regular basis based on the approved list provided by the States/UTs.
29. Whether farmers in villages situated in urban areas are eligible for the benefit of the Scheme?
There is no distinction between urban and rural cultivable land under the scheme. Both are covered under the scheme, provided that land situated in urban areas is under actual cultivation.
30. Whether micro land holdings are admissible for availing the benefit of the Scheme?
Micro land holdings, which are not cultivable, are excluded from the benefit under the scheme.
31. What is the prescribed mechanism for validation of information / declaration furnished by the beneficiaries?
The State/UT Governments are free to decide about the appropriate mechanism / authority for validation of information / declaration furnished by the beneficiary.
32. What is the cut-off date for ‘minor’ children becoming ‘major’ under the Scheme?
The cut-off date for’minor’ children becoming ‘major’ is 01 .02.2019.
33. Whether farmers may avail the benefit of the Scheme against agricultural land being used for non-agricultural purposes?
No. Agricultural land being used for non-agricultural purposes will not be covered for benefit under the scheme.
34. What is the procedure of release of installments to the beneficiaries?
a) An exclusive web-portal, namely, www.pmkisan.gov.in has been created for uploading of beneficiaries’ data by the State / UT Governments.
b) The eligible farmers may apply with the village Patwaris, revenue officials or other designated officers / agencies and submit their required details to them.
c) Nodal Officers appointed by State / UT Governments at Block Taluk / District level process the data and transfer them to State Nodal Officers (SNOs).
d) State Nodal Officers finally authenticate the data and upload them in batches from time-to-time on the portal.
e) The data of beneficiaries uploaded by the State Nodal Officers passes through a multi-level verification by the National Informatics Centre (NlC), the Public Finance
Management System (PF[MS) and the banks.
f) Based on the verified / validated data the SNOs sign the Request For Transfer (RFT) of fund containing the total number of beneficiaries contained in a particular batch and total amount of fund to be transferred for that batch, and upload it on the portal.
g) Based on the RFT, the PFMS issues a Fund Transfer Order (FTO).
h) Based on the FTO, the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare issues the sanction order for the amount mentioned in the FTO.
i) The amount is transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries, held in destination banks, through the accredited bank of Department and the sponsoring bank of the State/UT Governments, using the PFIMS portal. The destination bank can be a Schedule Bank, Post office, Rural Bank, Cooperative Bank or any other Financial Institution. The entire banking transaction is managed and monitored by the National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI).
35. If a farmer registered under the Scheme does not receive any installment in any 4-monthly period for any reason, whether he / she will be able to receive the same later on?
Yes. The beneficiaries, whose names are uploaded on PM-Kisan portal by the concerned State / UT Governments in a particular 4-monthly period, shall be entitled to receive the benefit for that period with effect from that 4-monthly period itself. lf they do not receive the payment of installment pertaining to that 4-monthly period and subsequent installments for any reason, except due to rejection for falling within the exclusion criteria, they are entitled to receive the benefits of all the due installments as and when the cause of delay is removed / resolved. For example, if an eligible farmer’s name has been uploaded on the PM-KISAN portal by the State / UT Government during the 4-monthly period of December. 2018 – March, 2019, he/she is entitled to get the installment pertaining to December, 2018 – March, 20’19 period, and also all subsequent installments. Further. if the eligible farmer’s name is uploaded on the PM-KISAN portal during the 4-monthly period of April-July, 2019, he/she is entitled to get the installment pertaining to April-July, 2019 period and also all subsequent installments.
Many beneficiaries, who have received installments pertaining to December, 2018 – March, 2019 period and April-July, 2019 period were not able to receive the installment pertaining to August,-November, 2019 period. The reason for this delay was the mandatory requirement of release of all installments pertaining to the 4-monthly period August-November, 2019 and onwards only on the basis of Aadhaar seeded data of beneficiaries. This work of Aadhaar seeding of data of beneficiaries had not been completed by many State / UT Governments. Therefore, the Central Government relaxed this mandatory requirement till 30th November, 2019. The State / UT Governments are required to complete the work of Aadhaar seeding of 100% beneficiaries by 30th November, 2019, so that the beneficiaries are able to receive the installment pertaining to the 4-monthly period of December, 2019 – March, 2020, and all subsequent installments. Beneficiaries in the States of Assam, Meghalaya and J&K (now UTs of J&K and Laddakh) have been exempted from all Aadhaar related requirements till 31st March, 2020, by which time these States are also required to complete the process of Aadhaar enrollment of all eligible farmers as well as Aadhaar seeding of their data under this Scheme.
Source: PM-Kisan